Hrulgin

Hrulgin (plural; singular: Hrulga) are a species of monster dwelling in Ulgoland. It resembles a horse from a distance, but up close you can tell that they have claws instead of hooves and fangs in place of teeth. They eat meat.

Hrulgin were created by Aldur, Torak and the other gods during the Period of Making. When they were first beheld, they were branded as unseemly and the gods rose their hands against them in a bid to destroy them. However, UL forbade this, and the Hrulgin were sent to the mountains instead.

When Gorim I reached the peaks of the Ulgo mountains, they were among the creatures that sustained him as he beseeched the father of the Gods to become his God and the God of his people. When Gorim asked for UL to accept the Hrulgin, UL dismissed them as unseemly creatures and refused. Gorim remained, and UL was troubled by his holiness. Finally, UL accepted them and they became subjects of UL, living in peace with the Ulgos.

At the cracking of the world, the Hrulgin went mad. They attacked Prolgu, killing many Ulgos. They also hunted Belgarath and Poledra, but they escaped by taking the forms of wolves.

Thousands of years later, a herd of Hrulgin happened upon Garion and his group in Ulgoland. Hettar, Mandorallen and Barak attacked them, and Hettar challenged the pack stallion. In the frantic melee that followed, Hettar ended up riding the Hrulgin. However, the madness of the creature forced him to kill it with a long dagger.

Years later, Hettar expressed the desire to breed Hrulgin for use in combat. Evidently, riding the Hrulgin had affected him. However, Durnik talked him out of this, pointing out that carnivorous mounts in Algaria would severely harm the cattle herds.